


One Hell of a Gamble

by TheCartoonAddict927



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas, Video Games - Fandom
Genre: Adventure, Alcohol, Caesar's Legion, Death, Drugs, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship, Gangs, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mojave Wasteland (Fallout), NCR | New California Republic, New Vegas, Nuka Cola, Romance, Susnset Sasparilla, Swearing, The Boomers - Freeform, The Bright Brotherhood, The Brotherhood of Steel, The Great Khans, The Kings, Violence, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2020-12-27 23:29:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21127028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCartoonAddict927/pseuds/TheCartoonAddict927
Summary: For best friends Bradley Walker and Harper Fields, it felt that life had dealt them a bad hand.  After escaping their hometown of Nipton following the violent bloodthirsty siege by Casear's Legion, they find themselves wandering the Mojave Wasteland with nowhere to go.  But when they meet a certain Courier who survived a headwound and is seeking revenge, their luck changes.  They join the Courier on the perilous journey which quickly changes from getting revenge to determining the fate of the Mojave.  The deck of cards on the table have been stacked and the bid is high.  Will they go all in, or will they fold? Rated M.





	1. Prologue: Madness in the Mojave

**Author's Note:**

> **A.N: Howdy there, everyone! Here's another Fallout story! I have recently been on a bit of a New Vegas kick lately, so I decided to do a story for it! Isn't that great logic? ^^ Now before we begin, a few disclaimers: I do NOT own Fallout New Vegas or it's characters. All of that belongs to Bethesda. I only own MY characters. Also, I'm not the most well-versed with New Vegas, so if there are any inconsistencies, I apologize. **
> 
> **Well, now that that's out of the way, enjoy! ;D**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A.N: Howdy there, everyone! Here's another Fallout story! I have recently been on a bit of a New Vegas kick lately, so I decided to do a story for it! Isn't that great logic? ^^ Now before we begin, a few disclaimers: I do NOT own Fallout New Vegas or it's characters. All of that belongs to Bethesda. I only own MY characters. Also, I'm not the most well-versed with New Vegas, so if there are any inconsistencies, I apologize. **

The night was rather cold in the Mojave Desert. Because the bright shining sun had swapped shifts with the glistening moon for the night, the air was suddenly a lot colder with temperatures being within the mid to high 20s. However, this didn’t affect the many denizens of the large wasteland out west all that much. Most of them of course had built a natural tolerance to fluctuating temperatures, and those who hadn’t, stayed inside their homes where they could stay warm. 

* * *

**10:45 p.m**

Two best friends were sitting around a campfire enjoying the cool breezes coming in and the overall peacefulness of the evening. One was a man and the other was a woman. Both were in their early twenties, the woman being twenty three while the man was twenty four. The woman was playing a gentle tune on her acoustic guitar while the man was positioned at the spit fixing their dinner. 

The girl with the guitar stopped playing for a moment and looked up. Her hair was mainly a chestnut brown but also had some lighter streaks that were from spending a lot of time in the sun. Her eyes were a deep green and her face sported freckles. She was clad in a blue checkered flannel with boots and a green jacket. 

“Is that gecko stew ready yet, Bradley?” She asked her friend, 

The guy cooking the food looked at his friend smirking. He had scruffy red hair matted with blood and sweat from a previous fight earlier in the day when he decided to tango with some Viper Gunslingers. His cheeks were rosy red from sunburn and bore a few scars and had eyes that were a warm brown looking like melted chocolate. He wore faded blue jeans with a simple white shirt with a bulletproof vest. His lips curled into a smile showing off his semi-white teeth. 

“Harper, you asked me that question literally thirty seconds ago, and the answer is still no.” He said, 

“Drat!” Harper growled slapping her knee in frustration, “It’s getting colder out here by the minute; and my stomach’s been growling for the past half hour.” She then leaned back against a comfortable rock and continued to strum the guitar strings and hum a tune to herself. 

Bradley chuckled as he went back to stirring the vegetables and gecko meat in the pot. The two of them had been traveling together for about a week. Bradley and Harper were born and raised in Nipton down south. They both came from loving families, had a lot of friends, and they were close neighbors for years. In all honesty, aside from the obvious problems like the prostitutes and the corruption, the town itself wasn’t half-bad. 

But that all came crashing down when Caesar’s Legion attacked. They, along with their families, had lost “the lottery”. This meant that they had to die. Thankfully, the brunette and the redhead managed to escape with their lives. Now they were on the run hoping to find refuge someplace else. 

Harper started to sing. 

_ ”Crazy. I’m crazy for feelin’ so lonely. _

_ I’m crazy, crazy for feelin’ so blue. _

_ I knew you’d love me as long as you wanted. _

_ And then someday, you’d leave me for somebody new...” _

Bradley scooped up a piping hot spoonful of stew and blew on it before giving it a taste. He decided that it was just about done. He pulled two bowls from his bag and dished up some stew for them. 

“Dinner’s served.” He said handing a bowl to her, 

Harper set her guitar aside and took the bowl gratefully from him. “Thanks, old pal.” She grinned, 

“No problem.” Bradley winked, 

The two friends ate in silence. The only sounds that could be heard were the coyotes howling in the distance and the crackling of the fire in front of them. The silence quickly became unnerving. As she sipped her stew, Harper’s mind wandered to their family and friends back home. 

Bradley noticed his friend now worrying excessively. He reached over and put a comforting hand on hers. 

“I know. I think about them a lot too.” 

The brunette looked up at him, tears were glossing her vibrant green eyes. “I’m so scared for them, Bradley! They lost the lottery raffle, just like us! But we didn’t see them get out...Now I’m starting to fear the worst…” 

“The last we saw them, they were running for the other edge of town. If we made it out, then I’m sure they’re fine.” Bradley replied, 

Harper nodded somberly, “I guess so...But…”

“Harper, we’re talking about our families here. They can handle themselves. No lunkheads from Caesar’s Legion can take them down.” Bradley assured her, 

Harper smiled as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “I hope you’re right…” She then reached over to her pack by her sleeping bag and pulled out a map. “So, we’re currently right outside of Goodsprings, right?” 

The redhead nodded. “Yeah. We’ll head into town tomorrow morning to restock and then we’ll hit the road again. So we should probably get some sleep.” 

“Yes, _ father _.” Harper joked rolling her eyes, Bradley snickered and they both climbed into their sleeping bags making sure that they had their weapons within reach. 

* * *

**2:35 a.m**

** _BLAM!!!_ **

The two friends were startled awake by a loud bang nearby. They looked around in fear wondering where it came from. 

“What was THAT!?” Harper asked stunned, 

“I don’t know.” Bradley replied, “It sounded like a gunshot.” 

“I hope no one’s hurt.” Harper said, 

Bradley then got out of his sleeping bag and grabbed his varmint rifle before rising to his feet. “I’m going to go check it out.” He headed off in the direction of the sound. 

“W-Wait for me, Brad!” Harper yelled springing out of her bag and grabbing her 10mm as well. 

The duo followed the noise of the gunshot over a nearby sand dune. It eventually led them to the Goodsprings Cemetery. As they got closer, they heard multiple voices. 

“Do we really have to do this, Benny?” One voice asked, 

“Yeah! Our little friend here is heavy!” Another voiced complained, 

“Both of you shut your goddamn traps and get this job done! Then you’ll get your caps...” A third male voice snapped, while the first two voices sounded rough like sandpaper, the third voice was more formal. The accent was familiar but they weren’t certain of what it was. All they knew was that it had a kind of “wise-guy” tone. 

Harper and Bradley carefully peeked over the dune. There, on the hill, they saw three goons, two were dressed like savages while one was dressed in a white and black checkered suit. The thuggish looking goons were dragging something over to a hole that they had dug. It was a person! They were burying somebody! 

The two friends’ eyes widened. “Holy shit, Brad! Those goons just shot someone!” Harper yelled in a whisper, 

“No kidding!” Bradley whisper-yelled back, 

Then one of the goons spoke up. “Damnit, Benny! My arms are fried! Wouldn’t it be easier to just burn the body?” He complained, 

The guy in the suit snapped, “No. This little courier needs to set an example. This’ll just show what happens when you interfere with big business in The Strip. So why don’t you just shut up and stash the stiff so we can blow this joint!” Bradley and Harper both assumed that this was “Benny”. 

The two best friends watched in horror as the goons continued to struggle dragging the lifeless body over to the hole. They were too far away to determine if the victim was a man or a woman. All the duo could tell was that they had taken a bullet to the head. There was absolutely NO WAY that they could have survived. 

Bradley hastily took Harper’s hand. “Come on! Let’s get out of here!” He started to run away taking Harper with him. 

“Wait! We need to help that person, Brad!” Harper said trying to pull her hand out of Bradley’s grip. 

Bradley stopped running and turned to his friend. “Look, Harp, that person just got popped in the head! They're Done! Dead! Gone! _ Sayonara _!” He said exaggeratingly, “Besides, there’s no way we can take on those guys. There’s three of them and only two of us; and two of them are armed to the teeth! We’d better get out of here before we’re next.” He then turned and began heading back to their campsite with Harper in tow. 

They ran away just as Benny and his thugs finally tossed the body into the hole. The slick man in the suit sighed and clicked his tongue. “It’s a real shame, that such a cute broad like you had to get all mixed up in this...” He knelt down and pulled out what looked like a little platinum casino chip and smirked at the young woman lying in the grave. 

“...But hey, it ain’t nothin’ personal...It’s just business…”

Benny clenched the platinum chip tightly in his fist. “...Nighty-Night, dollface.” 

He straightened up and nodded at the others. “Alright, boys. Cover her up.” 

His two thugs groaned in annoyance as they began to shovel piles of sand onto their victim. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **And there you have it! That's the prologue! :) I hope to have the next chapter within a few days. So until then, _Adios_!**


	2. Chapter 1: Goodsprings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A.N: Hey there, everybody! I'm finally back with this! I was planning to have this chapter posted on Halloween...But of course those plans fell through and I also had some other work to do for school, hehe ^^;...**
> 
> **Anywho, I'm really glad that you all are liking this story so far. I'm really enjoying writing it for you and the support means so much ;)**
> 
> **I'm really sorry if this chapter is not all that interesting, but it's necessary for the story to continue. It's mostly my two OCs again, but never fear, we'll meet The Courier in the next chapter. I promise ;D**
> 
> **Okay, now that that's out of the way, enjoy the chapter! ^^**

**The next morning**

**8:15 a.m.**

Harper and Bradley were walking across the sandy dunes to the small, quiet town of Goodsprings. Their supplies were running low so they needed to unload the items that they no longer needed and also restock. 

“We’re almost there.” Harper said looking at her map again, “Let’s just hope that the shops are open.” 

“It’s a little past eight so they should be.” Bradley replied, 

It wasn’t long before the duo reached the small town. People were either walking around minding their own business or sitting on the porch of the saloon. The best friends looked around in awe, but were suddenly surprised to come face-to-face with a robot. On the screen was the cheery face of a cowboy. 

“Howdy partners!” The robot greeted them, his voice sounded extremely friendly, but was also smooth and charming. 

Harper practically leapt into Bradley’s arms letting out a small squeal in response. But after a moment, she calmed down. 

“Oh. I’ve seen one of you guys before. Aren’t you one of those “Security whatchamacallits”? 

The robot laughed heartily. “I’m a Securitron Robco security model 2060-B.” 

“Oh, so that means you were around from before the war.” Bradley said amazed, 

“Yep! Though I don’t seem to recall anything past fifteen years ago.” The robot replied, 

“Oh. Well, what’s your name?” Harper asked, 

“My name’s Victor! Pleasure to meet ‘ya!” He then stuck out his mechanical arm to shake Harper’s hand. The brunette was a little cautious at first but finally smiled and returned the handshake. Victor then shook hands with Bradley before backing up a bit. 

“Well, it’s been nice chattin’ with ‘ya, but I’d best be rollin’ along.” And with that, Victor rolled off. 

“Hm, peculiar robot.” Bradley murmured, the redhead looked around and finally spotted the general store. He pointed to it. “Come on, let’s go stock up in there. Then we’ll grab something to eat at the saloon.” 

Harper nodded, “Okay.” 

* * *

The two runaways headed into the General store where they were met by a nice man named Chet. The prices were a little steep, but thanks to Bradley’s bartering skills and silver tongue, they were able to strike a reasonable deal. They collected their items and headed next door to the saloon. 

The redhead and the brunette entered the saloon where they were instantly greeted by a growling dog. They were unsure of what breed it was. Most likely a mutt. Regardless, the duo found themselves to be rather intimidated by the dog. 

Suddenly a girl about their age ran into the room. She had brown hair pulled back and deep, mesmerizing brown eyes that shone in the dim light of the room. She looked serious and had her gun out ready to shoot intruders. 

“Cheyenne! What’s wrong, girl!?” She asked the dog urgently, she followed the dog’s gaze upward and noticed the duo standing there. Her serious expression was suddenly gone. 

“Oh. Howdy. Uh...Who are you?” She asked them, 

Harper bravely stepped forward and spoke up. “Howdy. Don’t worry, we’re just visitors. We were passing through Goodsprings and decided to pop in for something to drink...Maybe something to eat?” 

The young woman holstered her gun behind her back. “Oh...Of course…” She then looked down at the dog again. “Bad girl, Cheyenne! We do not bark at guests!” The dog known as Cheyenne whimpered and curled up a little by her mistress’ feet in shame. 

The woman looked back up at them smiling sheepishly. “Sorry about that. We don’t get too many visitors in here often…” She then stuck her hand out to Harper. “Sunny Smiles. Pleased to meet you.” 

Harper smiled back as he shook her hand. “Pleasure. I’m Harper Fields and this here is my best friend, Bradley Walker.” 

Bradley smiled shyly and waved. “Howdy.” 

The woman known as Sunny winked at the redhead. “Hi. So, you said you were hungry? Go talk to Trudy over at the bar. She’ll hook you up. She always loves meeting new people when they come to Goodsprings.” 

Bradley smiled warmly, “Alright, we’ll do that.” 

“Once again, welcome to Goodsprings. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go out and clear the geckos again.” She finished with a tired groan and rolled her eyes. “Come on, Cheyenne.” Sunny then walked out the door with the dog following behind her. 

Both Bradley and Harper watched her go. “She seems like a nice girl.” Harper said,

“Yeah, she sure is.” Bradley nodded, 

The two best friends headed over to the bar where they were greeted by a very sweet looking woman, presumably in her mid to late thirties, tending the bar with brown hair and wore an apron. She was fussing over a radio of all things. 

“Why you stupid little-! Come on you damn thing! Work!” She snapped while lightly hitting the radio hoping that would fix it. 

They assumed that this was Trudy. 

Trudy eventually noticed them and was instantly beaming from ear to ear. She was just as nice as Sunny said she was. The older woman was more than happy to chat it up with the friendly strangers passing through. 

“Well well! Are my eyes playing tricks on me, or do I see new visitors!? Howdy!” Trudy said waving excitedly, her smile instantly stretched a mile wide. 

“Yeah hi. We’re just passing through.” Bradley replied, “We needed to restock so we came here.” 

Trudy nodded. “Well you both came to the right place! You can’t find any town better than Goodsprings. Sure, there’s not much around, but everyone here is happy. So, where are you two from?” 

“Oh, uh, We’re from Nipton.” Harper answered, 

“Ahhh I see. What brings you to Goodsprings?” Trudy asked, 

So the two friends told Trudy the story of how Nipton got attacked and how they couldn’t find their families. Trudy felt really bad for them and said that she wished there was something she could do to help. So to cheer them up, she gave them each a sweet Sunset Sarsaparilla, on the house. Bradley and Harper thanked her and eagerly popped open the bottles ready to gulp down the refreshing soda. 

“I kinda like it here, Brad. Do you think it’s possible that we can stay here for a few more days?” Harper asked him, 

The redhead looked at his best friend perplexed. “Really, Harper? You WANT to stay longer?” 

“Pleeeeaaassseee?” Harper pleaded with big puppy dog eyes, 

Bradley tried not to be moved by his best friend’s pleading look, but to no avail. He sighed. “Alright, Harper. I could never say no to you. We’ll stay here for three more days. Sound good?” 

The brunette nodded just as excited and giddy as a kid at Christmas. 

Bradley then lifted his bottle. “How about a toast? To hoping that everything will only get better from this point.” 

Harper smiled. “Here here.” They clinked their bottles and took a swig of the soda. Just as this happened, two of the male townsfolk walked into the bar. One was obviously older in age with a white beard and an old straw hat while the other was much younger with tan skin and dark brown hair. He was clad in simple farmhand clothes. 

“So, did you hear about that woman that Victor found last night?” The older man asked, 

“What woman?” The younger man said confused, 

“You know, the one that he found buried alive out in the cemetery last night.” The first man replied, “She took a bullet or two straight to her left temple. According to the Doc, she was in really bad shape when ole’ Victor brought her in.” 

“Was she alive?” The younger man asked, 

“Yeah, she was alive. But just barely.” The older man said, “Doc Mitchell said there’s a lot of lead to get out, but he thinks he should be able to fix her up good as new.” 

“Whoa. Surviving two bullets to the head? I can’t even imagine…” The young fellow said, 

The vagabond duo overheard this and looked at each other surprised. 

“Brad, did you hear that? That person who we saw those goons bury...She’s alive.” Harper whispered, 

“That’s insane. With a wound like that, I was sure that she was a goner.” Bradley replied before taking another sip of his sarsaparilla, 

“...Should we go check on her and make sure she’s okay?” Harper asked, 

The redhead shot the brunette an unsure look. “I don’t know, Harp. You think that’s wise?”

“I mean, it’s only polite. We didn’t help her out before...This will make up for it.” Harper replied, 

The young man thought about it for a minute and then finally shrugged. “Yeah. I guess we could…” He then downed the rest of his drink and gently placed down the bottle. 

“Let’s go.”

* * *

The two friends said good day to Trudy and left the saloon. They looked around the small dusty town hoping to find the doctor’s house. Finally, Harper noticed a named faintly painted on one of the mailboxes. 

“Mitchell...Doc Mitchell...Bradley! I found it!” She called over her shoulder, 

They both headed up the walkway of the doctor’s home. Once they reached the front door, Bradley politely lifted his hand and knocked. They waited a few seconds. Silence. Bradley knocked again. More silence. After what felt like an eternity, they heard a voice coming from the other side of the door. 

_ “Hold your Brahmin, I’m comin’, I’m comin’.” _

The front door opened revealing a middle-aged man. His greying hair was slightly askew, his aging eyes were bloodshot and had dark bags under them, and his bald head was dripping with sweat. His clothes were drenched with blood. Both the redhead and the brunette knew whose blood it was. 

Doc Mitchell wiped his hands off on a clean towel as he looked at the two strangers. “Good morning, y’all.” He said politely, 

“Uh..Howdy sir. I’m Bradley Walker and this is my friend Harper Fields.” Bradley introduced them, 

Harper gave a shy smile and waved. 

“We’re sorry to be bothering you at such an early hour, but we were wondering if we could possibly check up on that woman that you’re patching up.” Bradley explained, 

The doctor was understandably confused and slightly taken aback at the wastelanders’ request. “The poor girl’s in a really vulnerable state right now. There’s still quite a bit of lead left in her noggin that I have to get out. Why do you want to see her?” 

“We saw her get shot last night. Those goons shot her down like a coyote.” Harper explained, she was still rather horrified and appalled by their actions. “We thought she was dead, but we were relieved to hear that she survived. We just wanted to make sure that she was okay. But if it’s too much trouble, then we’ll just go…” 

Doc Mitchell just stared at the duo for another moment before letting out a tired sigh. “Sure thing. Come on in.” He gestured them inside. 

Harper and Bradley entered the home and looked around in slight awe. For a home in the apocalypse, it was rather well-kept. 

Doctor Mitchell lead the duo into one of the rooms of the old house. It looked like a mini infirmary. Old books and papers were scattered everywhere, medical supplies such as bandages and braces lined the shelves, and lying on the bed completely out cold was a woman about their age. 

Harper and Bradley approached the unconscious patient with slight caution. They didn’t want to somehow accidentally make her injury worse. 

“Please be sure to keep your distance. I don’t want the wound to get infected.” Doc Mitchell warned them, 

They listened and continued to observe the girl. She was indeed young and lovely, but at the same time she looked sturdy. She was without a doubt of Caucasian descent, her skin was all peachy and flushed and also filthy from being buried alive. Her shoulder-length auburn hair was mangled and matted with blood and sand as well as her simple raggedy clothes. The bullet wound in her head was still visible and both Bradley and Harper swore they saw little metal pieces still embedded in her skull. This sight made the duo cringe and wince. They couldn’t imagine how much pain she would probably be in. Her breathing was a little weak but at the same time steady. She wasn’t moving otherwise. 

“Will she be alright?” Harper asked looking to Doctor Mitchell, 

“If I continue getting the lead out of her head, she should be up and at ‘em within the next couple of days.” Doctor Mitchell replied, “To be completely honest, I can’t believe that she’s still breathing.” 

“She must be a strong woman.” Bradley replied, both he and Harper stayed for a few minutes more before they finally decided to go. 

“Well, thank you so much for letting us come in, but I think we’ve overstayed our welcome.” Bradley thanked the kind doctor. He shook his hand and looked over his shoulder. “Come on, Harper.” 

Harper followed suite and they headed back towards their campsite. On the way back however, they noticed a strange man walking around. His skin tone was darker and dark brown hair and beard were surprisingly well-groomed for the wasteland. He sported a dark blue shirt and jeans with a heavy bulletproof vest. He was asking around while at the same time intimidating the locals by asking them rather demanding questions. 

“Where is he!? Where is the caravan hand!?” He asked one of the ladies in town, 

The woman shrugged and shook her head. “I swear, I don’t know anything about the man that you’re looking for.” 

The man growled, “Fine! But I know he’s here, and mark my words. This isn’t the end.” And with that, he stormed off. 

Harper looked at Bradley surprised, “Did you see that, Brad?”

Bradley nodded, “I did.” 

“Who do you think that man was after?” Harper asked, 

“I don’t know. But I do know one thing.” The twenty four year old man replied, 

“What?” The young woman shrugged, 

“We should probably head back to our camp...Now.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **So yeah, there's Chapter 1. Not much happened. But trust me, this story is about to get interesting! So yeah, I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see y'all next time! Ciao!**

**Author's Note:**

> **And there you have it! That's the prologue! :) I hope to have the next chapter within a few days. So until then, _Adios_!**


End file.
